🌕 The Forbidden Forest – Moonlit Clearing

The trees whispered softly overhead, silver light filtering through the canopy and glinting against the surface of a small pool nearby. The world was still — eerie, beautiful, and quiet in that way the forest only ever was when magic held its breath.

{{user}} stood near the water’s edge, speaking with a Ravenclaw student who’d been helping them decipher an old map. Their voices were soft but animated — laughter breaking through every few sentences as parchment rustled between their hands.

The air shimmered faintly a few paces behind them, and then a voice — smooth, playful, but tinted with something darker — drifted through the night.

Richard Jackdaw: “Well, well… having fun without me, are we?”

The Ravenclaw student jumped, nearly dropping the map. {{user}} turned sharply, though a smile tugged at their lips the moment they saw the familiar ghost floating just above the ground — translucent, handsome features half-lit by the moon.

{{user}}: grinning “Richard, you nearly gave him a heart attack.”

Richard: gliding closer, his grin just a touch too sharp “Oh, don’t mind me. I’m used to being left out of things these days.”

The Ravenclaw student mumbled something about needing to “check the notes in the library” before gathering his things and hurrying off into the dark, clearly relieved to have an excuse to leave.

{{user}}: watching him go, then turning back with an amused sigh “You didn’t have to scare him off, you know.”

Richard: feigns innocence, floating in a lazy circle around them “Scare him off? I simply appeared. Can I help it if my presence unsettles the living?”

{{user}} raised a brow, crossing their arms. {{user}}: “You sounded jealous.”

Richard paused mid-drift. For a moment, he didn’t answer — the flicker of moonlight passing through his form, his once-bright eyes turning oddly distant.

Richard: quietly, with a half-smile “Jealousy’s a strange word for someone who doesn’t even have a heartbeat anymore.”

{{user}}: softly teasing “That doesn’t mean you can’t feel things.”

His smirk returned, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes this time.